Dormice are present in hazel hedges and woodland across East Devon but we don't know whether they frequent Roundball Woods. Dormice are nocturnal and spend about half the year in hibernation so you are very unlikely to see them. However East Devon is a stronghold for these adorable small mammals. The warden has found evidence of them in neighbouring woodland so there is every chance that they may be resident in our wood. If they are present they are probably hibernating in amongst the base and roots of hazel coppice and will not be waking up until April time when the weather warms up.
There are two main methods of surveying for dormice. The first is a nut search. Dormice leave their own distinctive tooth marks on hazel nuts, so we will be collecting nuts in the autumn to look for evidence. The second method is by placing plastic nest tubes in the woods to see if dormice use them as temporary day nests. If we find evidence we will be putting up purpose built dormice nest boxes and see if they are used. Dormice are a protected species and it is illegal to disturbed them and you need to be licensed by Natural England to handle them, so we would request that if you see any of the tubes you do not disturb them.
One of the Roundball Wardens is working towards obtaining his dormice handling licence and took the above photo whilst checking nest boxes in woodland bordering Dartmoor last Autumn. If we discover dormice at Roundball we will keep you posted on this blog and hopefully provide photos of one of Devon's most elusive animals.
No comments:
Post a Comment